In Lovely Irony
by BlackRose108
Summary: It was the kind of irony Astrid didn't mind. Flying up in the air with her two worst enemies on a beautiful night of discovery and, perhaps, just a little bit of romance. A different approach to the "Romantic Flight" scene. Hiccup/Astrid.


**This idea just kind of popped into my head while watching one too many HTTYD behind the scenes videos on YouTube. I saw an interview with one of the animators and it showed some scenes from the original romantic flight between Astrid and Hiccup, and I have to admit it looked pretty cool. But, the guy also explained all the very pivotal moments and transitions that happened in the scene that weren't voiced, but implied. **

**So, of course I had to write about it. It takes place right after Astrid and Hiccup leave the Dragon's Den and are flying back to Berk. It's a different approach to their conversation about what they're going to do about the situation.**

**I own nothing…**

In Lovely Irony

Astrid felt her arms shaking as she gripped Hiccup tighter. She was slightly shaken up by the whole experience but once she realized they were a far distance from the dragon's dean and the queen dragon wasn't following them she let herself breathe normally again.

Hiccup felt the slight changes in Astrid's positions as they rode back as well, she was shifting way too much behind him. He could easily come to the conclusion that she just wasn't used to being on Toothless, but her uneven breaths made his accusation that she was just as scared as he was very clear. He laughed in the back of his mind. He didn't even know Astrid could get scared.

"You alright?" Hiccup asked somewhat awkwardly and he felt her squeeze his waist a little tighter.

"Yeah, yeah, I fine." She told him. The wind picked up and they both shivered. The night's cold air was finally dropping on them and the adrenaline that as keeping them warm all that time was finally wearing off. Astrid shivered against his back and instinctively buried her head into the back of his riding vest. Hiccup perked up at this, his shoulders immediately erect and his leg stiffened on latch he used to control Toothless's tail. Toothless looked up at the boy and could see every nervous hair on him stand up even more than before. The dragon wondered what it could do to make the situation any better but Toothless knew that Hiccup needed this moment to fend for himself. Besides, he wouldn't always have his dragon when he was around Astrid.

"I'm…" Hiccup trailed. "I'm sorry for dragging you into all this, I-I didn't mean for it to go this far I just wanted to show you that Toothless was harmless and-"

"It's okay, Hiccup…really." Astrid assured him, her words slightly muffled against his riding vest which he noticed that she was still, rather oddly, clinging to.

"Are you sure, because you seem a little scar-" Before Hiccup could get the sentence out a strong gust of wind came across them that caused Toothless to have to adjust so he wouldn't be carried back, but he would need Hiccup's help. The young Viking immediately straightened his relaxed position and took hold of the bearings he used to steer. Astrid tried not to make herself a bother while Hiccup and Toothless worked together to get out of the current without losing their way. While they maneuvered, though, Astrid just smiled fondly at the pair, finding it so amazingly odd how she had gone to wanting the kill him for taking her spot for killing the dragon that morning to wanting nothing more but to fly away with him on Toothless and forget Berk even existed by nightfall.

It was the kind of irony Astrid didn't mind, being there with two of her worst enemies on a beautiful night of discovery and, just perhaps—as she leaned forward just a tad while Hiccup's hair brushed up just slightly against her cheek—a little romance.

The winds picked up while they were flying through the misty thickets of rock pillars between Berk and dragon's den and before Astrid could even blink a strong gust ripped her arms from Hiccup and send her in a tumble right down the dragon's back.

"Astrid!" Hiccup turned to see her holding onto Toothless's tail in fear of falling off, but that was doing nothing to help Toothless fly through the currents.

Astrid screamed as all three of them fell into the haze of the mist. She looked frantically for Hiccup, who was still attached to Toothless due to his leather chain connections on his vest.

"Astrid!" She heard him call again and it snapped her out of the fog she had sunk into once she realized she might not make it after this fall. Surprisingly, though, her life didn't flash before her eyes while she spiraled down, all she saw was her flight on Toothless playing in her head over and over. The wind in her hair, the calmness before the sunset and…and Hiccup.

"Take my hand, Astrid, please!" Hiccup begged and when her vision cleared she saw Hiccup in a combination of flying a falling on Toothless nest to her. She extended her fingers as far as possible towards him even in the uncertainty of the mist and reached towards him with all her might. And when the distance between them was just a hair too great Hiccup unhooked his straps and balance on Toothless to reach a little farther. And in one swift tug Hiccup had saved her from falling off a dragon for the second time that day.

No words were spoken between them while Hiccup strapped himself back onto Toothless's saddle and decided to take them up higher over the rocks and the mist. They'd be more open to whatever wandering eyes landed on that portion of the sky once they neared Berk but, both Hiccup and Toothless knew that since they had an extra passenger they couldn't be doing anything too adventurous as opposed to if they were just flying for practice by themselves.

The clouds were thick and plentiful that night, much to Hiccup's delight, so he decided to stay above those for the time being. Plus, the currents seemed less turbulent.

Hiccup turned his attention back to Astrid who, once again, had her head buried in his riding vest. He chuckled.

"You alright?" he mirrored his first question once again and felt her lips form a smile against his back before she lifted her head.

"I'd say yes, but I'd be lying." She told him without thinking.

"You don't have to be scared I'm-"

"I'm not scared," Astrid finished for him, but held him closer as she said this.

"I'm…not going to let anything happen to you, okay?" Hiccup finished what he was originally going to say. Astrid's eyes widened. She had always had guys tell her that they were going to protect her, but it was never because they actually wanted to protect her, it was mostly just so they could show off how strong they supposedly thought they were. But, Hiccup, he said it with such sincerity and it almost made Astrid's eyes water. She moved her face up so she could look at the view in front of them just barely over Hiccup's shoulder and her wide eyes met Hiccup's.

They both smiled.

"What are we going to do?" Astrid asked him suddenly. She had no choice but to change the subject, she was getting too lost in the moment. "I mean, we have to go tell your dad but…"

"No we can't!" Hiccup exclaimed immediately, even Toothless jolted a little at the raise in his voice. "Astrid if we tell my father he'll have Toothless killed…I-I can't, not yet."

"Well then how long do you expect us to keep the fact that we finally found the dragon's nest a secret? I know this is a breakthrough with Toothless, but we're still Vikings first and foremost, Hiccup."

"Well, if that means killing Toothless just because of a stupid sense of duty then maybe I don't want to be a Viking anymore," Hiccup answered stubbornly.

"You can't change who you are Hiccup," Astrid said softly. Hiccup turned his body a little more towards her before looking her seriously in the eyes.

"You did." He said, just as softly. "This morning you probably wouldn't have cared if I fell off a cliff and now we're…we're…" Hiccup realized he didn't exactly know how to finish that sentence. Was calling them friends stretching it? But then he felt her arms tighten around him and her cheek nuzzled on his shoulder and realized maybe saying they were friends was an understatement? He didn't know what to say, a since Astrid wasn't finishing the sentence either it was obvious that she didn't know as well.

It was almost ironic…in fact, it was ironic. But it was the kind of irony Hiccup didn't mind.

Little did he know, though, that his thoughts mirrored Astrid's.

"So we don't tell?" Astrid continued after a long silence.

"Not now."

"But when, I can't keep this bottled up forever."

"It won't be forever, just until tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?"

"Because whether I want to or not I have to get in the ring tomorrow and face a Nightmare." Both Hiccup and Astrid gulped in unison.

And at that moment they arrived over Berk.

And there was silence while they took in the sights of their home, like they had never been there before.

"It looks so different from up here, doesn't it?" Astrid broke the silence quietly.

"Yeah," Hiccup agreed and relaxed a little more into Astrid's back embrace. "It's like I'm not even a part of it anymore, like the moment I first rode Toothless I left Berk behind to just fly."

Astrid sucked in a breath. There he went again, amazing her.

"The feeling's mutual," she concurred. "Though I didn't have much of choice," she decided to tease him and he smirked.

"Well, that's what you get for trying to rat on me."

"I'm glad I didn't though," she told him honestly and rested her forehead against his temple. In the back of her mind Astrid's inner voice was screaming not to get too close and too comfortable up in the air with this boy, but she couldn't help herself. The atmosphere was just too inviting, it would almost be impossible not to have a romantic moment up there with him. Hiccup, though, wasn't conflicted at all at the closeness of the two of them. He was just making sure he didn't do something to screw this up. Because, in all honesty, how many times would he have the girl of dreams spellbound and clinging to him thousands of feet up in the air?

And then he took a leap of faith, hanging on a wind and a prayer that his insane plan of fantasy would work.

"Astrid," Hiccup said softly, making her head come up so their eyes met and the two noticed just how close their faces were. Astrid blushed while Hiccup swallowed roughly and the two of them were completely silent. Their eyes drew each other in green met blue and every color in between while their faces inched closer in a thick air that almost begged for them to close the distance. Astrid became just as bold and brought a hand up from his waist to cup his cheek, a gesture that was pure and foreign instinct to Astrid. Her eyes fluttered closed and she just waited for him to close the distance but then, they felt a thump.

They had landed.

Their flight of wonders was over, and they were both sad to realize that the moment was fading with it.

Astrid sighed and let her hand drop from Hiccup's cheek and down onto the saddle. But, Hiccup wasn't going to make it that easy for her. He grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers together in a fashion none of they were used to but they weren't complaining.

Their eyes stayed closed as they drank what was left of the moment and they leaned their foreheads together in unison, breathing almost in sync.

Toothless was the one who finally put a stop to it, though, when he let out a growl for them to get off of him since he had landed. The night fury had been flying for a while and wanted to rest.

Hiccup smiled in a nervous relief and sadness while he pulled away from Astrid and allowed her to get off the saddle before following suit. Toothless made his way over to the lake and began to drink the water while Astrid just stood in silence. She knew she should've been heading home, but, for whatever reason, she couldn't bring herself to leave him until she felt satisfied with what had happened. She turned towards him.

"Hiccup?" She said and his eyes snapped up to her immediately.

"Yeah?" He asked before groaning at the fact that she had landed a hard punch on his shoulder.

"That was for kidnapping me." She smirked.

"What!" Hiccup exclaimed. "But-but you said that-" She placed a finger to his lips the, hushing his rant before grabbing his shoulders and kissing his cheek tenderly. She felt his skin burn beneath her lips before she pulled away, lingering a little longer than she needed to.

"That's for…everything else." She said before hastily making her way out of the woods, not even waiting to see Hiccup's reaction and not stopping when he called her name. Hiccup looked over at Toothless, who was observing the situation with a slightly awed look, like he was just as amazed as Hiccup was. Perhaps he was?

Hiccup sighed. That was a little too much irony for one night.

0o0o0o0

Astrid entered the house as quietly as she could but she was still met by her parents, who must've been up waiting for her to come back. Astrid was never late she was the early to be early to rise type.

"And just where have you been Astrid?" Her father asked her, almost quizzically.

"You know here and there." Astrid answered passively and made her way up to her room with as little eyes contact as possible. She was never good at lying, especially to her parents.

"Astrid," Her mother called next and Astrid stopped right in her tracks, halfway up the stairs.

"Yes?"

Her parents didn't need to answer they just gave her one good firm look and her shoulders dropped.

"I was on a date," she said.

"A date?"

"With who?" Her father asked. "Not that Snotlout boy?"

"No, with…"she gulped "…with Hiccup."

"Hiccup?"

"Stoick's boy?"

"Yeah, we went for a walk in the woods and we just lost track of time. I'm sorry."

"Just let us know, next time, when you're going to be wandering around in the woods with boys so we at least know where to come and get you if we get worried." Astrid's father informed.

"Dad, please, I'm not a child." Astrid huffed before stomping up to her room.

She ripped off her spiked skit and shoulder plates and landed smack-down on her bed, screaming into her pillow.

She had had a little too much irony for one night, as well.

**I actually liked this. I wanted really, more than anything else, to just capture the awkwardness and romantic preludes that the directors had to cut from the original romantic flight…apparently. **

**Reviews are always welcome. **


End file.
